Forgotten History of the Western People
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Forgotten History of the Western People (2002) is a pseudohistorical young earth creationist book by Mike Gascoigne.
[edit] Contents
Gascoigne's starting point is that the Genesis narrative is literal history. He maintains that after the Tower of Babel, the descendants of Noah's son Japheth were dispersed by God into Europe where they became the ancestral stock of white Europeans or Westerners (pp. 46-90). He identifies Japheth with Iapetus, a Greek mythological Titan (p. 47). While this particular identification has a long history,[1] there is no evidence for it — the supposed equivalence is based solely on an alleged similarity in their names. The rest of Gascoigne's identifications of Japheth's descendants (as listed in Genesis) with Greek mythological figures are range from unsubstantiated to fraudulent (including citing the 15th century forger Annius of Viterbo's work as evidence). When Greek mythological figures through philology cannot be twisted to resemble the names of Japheth's descendants, Gascoigne claims the Greeks fabricated their own genealogies to "spice them up" because they were bored of their real Biblical roots (p. 49). The book then skips to the legendary Kings of Britain to the Anglo-Saxons, whom Gascoigne attempts to claim were descendants of Japheth through a Trojan bloodline (pp. 91-132). Again, no evidence is provided.
[edit] Reception
The work is not taken seriously by historians. Gascoigne himself only showcases positive reviews from fellow young earth creationists, with the exception of a review by Michael Tunnicliffe, of the Manchester Ancient Egypt Society, who admits "others will regard it as typically speculative 'alternative' writing."[2]
In 2006, the book was listed by the Creation Science Movement as their third most popular book.
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ Gascoigne cites the Sybilline Oracles as making this association during the Greco-Roman period.
- ↑ Forgotten History of the Western People: Review by Michael Tunnicliffe." Anno Mundi Books. 2003 June.